You Can Get A Ticket In The Drive-Thru

When you’re in the line-up at the drive thru do you look down at your phone? Check to see if you have any texts or emails? I mean, you’re just waiting in line, no biggie right? That’s probably what A.J. Daoust from Alberta was thinking while waiting for his order in a Tim Horton’s drive-thru line. He was replying to a text when he got a knock on his window. It was a police officer asking him to pull over. He was given a $287 ticket for distracted driving.

Technically he was driving. It’s up to the police officer’s discretion when handing out these types of tickets in Alberta.

Do you agree? Or do you think it was as A.J. Daoust described it “a little heavy handed”.

Thanks to Jeff Rybak, a criminal defence lawyer who emailed in to say this wouldn’t happen in Ontario because our laws in the Ontario Highway Traffic Act don’t apply to private property unlike in Alberta. Still, be careful you don’t want to rear end the guy in front of you while texting.

UPDATE: Our friends at Global News reporting the police officer’s side of the story. According to police he was texting before entering the drive thru and flipped the officer off. More here.

You know I understand the idea that you should not be driving when you are driving but when you are in a line up in a drive thru I would think it would be safe to check your email and such. Better in a line up at a drive thru then while actually driving. I would think teaching everyone to not text while driving is the most important thing rather then just grabbing as much money as they can how ever they can. It just seems very petty , and sneaky . If you want the public to trust you and actually listen to you , you have to teach them by doing the honorable thing not under underhandedly and expect the public to follow blindly . All I am saying is smarted up and pick your battles and maybe just maybe you can save some lives instead of just creating some more pissed off people who have lost faith in you yet again.

Yeah and, in Toronto you can also get a BS ticket for idling your car vehicle longer then 1 min so, I guess if its long line you are suppose o waste more gas turning your car off and on every minute. I can’t wait until Winter and people trying to get cars started again. I guess it is the genius do-gooders at it again.